Most hospitals employ an Admission/Discharge/Transfer (ADT) system for managing ancillary information, such as admissions, discharge and transfer data about its patients. However, there are existing problems in ADT systems. One problem, for example, is the inability of current ADT systems to provide sufficient clinical information for appropriate patient placement.
Another problem area is the lack of accurate bed availability information. This generally results in lost admissions and excessive wait times.
Inefficient communication while searching for the appropriate bed for a patient, is another problem.
High incidences of ‘observation’ outpatients that occupy inpatient beds without payer authorization, is another problem.
Additionally, current ADT systems often lack the ability to access and provide meaningful historical, current and predictive data regarding bed occupancy levels and other activities and events related to the operation of a health care facility.